Netflix’s nostalgia trip hits its next stop today with the release of Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. The cult character returns 25 years after the iconic Pee-wee’s Playhouse, though he has shown up throughout the years in as disparate of entertainments as Top Chef, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Saturday Night Live, and Wrestlemania. Paul Reubens (now 63 years old) puts on the gray suit and red bowtie once again in another adventure outside of his simple 1950s suburban town—this time instead of looking for a lost bicycle, Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike) advises him to live a little on holiday. Judging from the trailer, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday goes just about everywhere, hopefully recapturing what made Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure so random and fun. Unlike some of Netflix’s other resurrected properties (we’re looking at you Fuller House), Pee-wee is strange enough and self-knowing enough, that I’m not so cynical about it coming back. For all the other films new to streaming services this weekend, check out the recommendations below:

Netflix

The Hunting Ground (Kirby Dick, 2015)

Thought-provoking filmmaker Kirby Dick’s sexual assault documentary The Hunting Ground is so much more than its Best Original Song Oscar loss. A thoroughly researched and emotionally raw, the film looks at institutional cover-ups and general look-the-other-ways of many major colleges and universities that are suffering from a sexual assault problem reaching an epidemic. But unlike so many similar issues movies, The Hunting Ground also highlights a few determined survivors who are working to shine a light on the problem. For Dick, the film follows the equally extraordinary The Invisible War, which focused on the growing problem of rape in the military—an equally ignored social ill. Now on Netflix, The Hunting Ground is a must-watch film from 2015.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
10,000 Saints (Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, 2015)
Daredevil (Series, Season 2)
Finders Keepers (Bryan Carberry & Clay Tweel, 2015)
My Beautiful Broken Brain (Sophie Robinson & Lotje Sodderland, 2014)
Shelter (Paul Bettany, 2014)

Fandor

Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi, 1962)

In this week’s “Criterion Picks,” Fandor is highlighting unforgettable scores, including Kobayashi’s Japanese samurai epic Harakiri. Though Tôru Takemitsu’s music isn’t generally included in the all-time film scores, it is a masterful use of traditional Japanese instrumentation, its string-heavy sound providing excitement to the contemplative action film. One of the best films of its genre, Harakiri is a jidaigeki film about a ronin without a lord who requests to commit the traditional suicide ritual at the palace. The film stars under-heralded star Tatsuya Nakadai, a favorite of Kurosawa and Kobayashi, in perhaps his career defining role. Also included in the Criterion Picks this week include Satyajit Ray’s The Music Room, visually stunning Mishima, Fellini farce Amarcord, Jarmusch’s Night on Earth, and more. These films are all available on Fandor until March 27.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Beijing Taxi (Miao Wang, 2010)
Kenny (Clayton Jacobson, 2006)
Making Mishima (Kim Hendrickson, 2008)
The Square (Jehane Noujaim, 2013)
We Fun (Matthew Robinson, 2009)

MUBI

Shaolin Soccer (Stephen Chow, 2001)

Will Stephen Chow’s new film The Mermaid setting box-office records in China, his most notable film stateside is now available on MUBI. The mix of kung fu film and sports film was unlike anything else, let alone Chow’s trademark silly humor which adds a solid glue to the genre mash-up. The soccer sequences play out as a mix of The Matrix and a live-action anime, with a breakneck pace and kinetic cinematography usually only seen in its martial arts roots. Now, Chow is something of a known quantity, though he hasn’t had a hit in the U.S. since Shoalin Soccer‘s follow-up, the equally crazy and amazing Kung Fu Hustle. Hopefully The Mermaid is able to find a cult audience outside of China, but until you can see it, it’s a good time to check out the film that launched his career on MUBI until April 12.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
88:88 (Isiah Medina, 2015)
The Great Flood (Bill Morrison, 2012)
The Miner’s Hymns (Bill Morrison, 2011)
Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)
You and the Night (Yann Gonzalez, 2013)

iTunes & Video On-Demand

Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, 2015)

For his sophomore film Charlie Kaufman teamed up with animator Duke Johnson (Community) for a sad, funny, absurd, wonderful puppet show, Anomalisa. The film follows a emotionally troubled customer service expert as he is shacked up in a Cincinnati hotel to give a seminar to his adoring fans. Completely out-of-touch with reality, the film shows his fractured state by filling every other voice performance (man, woman and child) with Tom Noonan, until Michael meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whose voice stands out. The three voice actors, including David Thewlis who plays Michael, are all outstandingly superb—Noonan’s monotone and slight variations make the hook fun while JJL delivers so much sympathy and emotional damage with Lisa. Visually, Anomalisa is stunning, with maybe the most realistic puppet animation in cinema history. Altogether, Anomalisa is a complex and rich experience, full of deep thoughts and an offbeat sensibility—the perfect mixture of what makes Kaufman such a fantastic filmmaker.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015)
The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945)
The Program (Stephen Frears, 2015)

As another Sundance Film Festival comes to a close (be sure to check out our coverage here), it’s now time to assess which films will be seen and loved by the masses throughout the year. Though it is still intended as a showcase for independently made films, its position as a marketplace has become increasingly important as more boutique and indie studios shell out millions for these films. This year it became apparent that streaming services are major players, with million dollar VOD deals becoming just as noteworthy as theatrical acquisitions. Specifically, Netflix walked away with exclusive streaming and VOD rights for The Fundamentals of Caring, a comedy starring Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts, nanny drama Tallulah with Ellen Page, and Iranian horror film Under the Shadow. Amazon struck deals for Michael Shannon/Rachel Weisz thriller Complete Unknown, Whit Stillman’s Love and Friendship, and a $10 million deal for the highly praised Manchester by the Sea, the newest film from indie auteur Kenneth Lonergan. For more info on all the Sundance purchases, check out the full list at The Wrap.

If all of that isn’t proof enough that streaming is where it’s at, check out the best films and television to hit streaming this week:

Netflix

Frozen Planet (Series, 2011)

From the creator of the renowned Planet Earth series comes a nine-part documentary series focusing on the environment and life of the Arctic and Antarctic poles. If you are totally into penguins, polar bears or the albatross, Frozen Planet gives a well-researched and beautifully shot exploration—all with David Attenborough’s dulcet tones. And if you love the series, Netflix also has two special extra companion features, On Thin Ice and An Epic Journey, to stream, along with the six-part Making of Frozen Planet behind-the-scenes series.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
From Dusk to Dawn (Series, Season 2)
Ripper Street (Series, Season 3)
Turbo Kid (François Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell, 2015)

Fandor

Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)

In this week’s “Criterion Picks” Fandor takes a look at the color film debuts of some of the world’s great filmmakers. By 1964, Italian auteur Antonioni had built a career on stylized dramas in striking black-and-white cinematography—his first colorized film, Red Desert, is strangely set in an industrial wasteland but is no less beautiful. You can also check out color firsts from Kurosawa, Renoir, Ophuls, and more until February 7. Fandor is also in the Sundance spirit this week with their Spotlight on some of their favorite films that played Park City. Their far-ranging selections include Hoop Dreams, Slacker, The Forbidden Room, Meek’s Cutoff, and Computer Chess.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Archangel (Guy Maddin, 1990)
Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu, 1958)
Mon oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)
Our Nixon (Penny Lane, 2013)
What Remains (Steven Cantor, 2006)

MUBI

The Square (Jehane Noujaim, 2013)

MUBI is also into the Sundance Film Festival this week, as their curated selections all highlight films that debuted at the fest. Among them is the stunning look at the recent Egyptian revolution, The Square. The winner of the 2013 Sundance Audience Award for World Cinema in the documentary category and Oscar nominee, the film covers the protests against former president Mubarak through the eyes of the people in the title square. It is a beautiful example of the power of people and really puts the viewer into the experience, living through the political angst, terror, and ultimate victory. MUBI is offering the complete version of the film with an updated ending covering the events that followed the film’s release.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
Detropia (Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, 2012)
Durakovo: Village of Fools (Nino Kirtadze, 2008)
The Unbelievable Truth (Hal Hartley, 1989)
Vulgar Fractions (Peter Bo Rappmund, 2011)
Wrong (Quentin Dupieux, 2012)

Video On-Demand

The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2015)

Among the most beautifully shot films of 2015, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s The Assassin was included by many as one of the best films of the year (including us). Though it has been marketed heavily as a martial arts action film, The Assassin is a more slowly-paced, contemplative film than that, much more concerned with character, tone, and style than narrative or action. This may turn off some viewers, but the lush visual pleasures of the film cannot be denied. Though seeing the film at home may not be in its best possible presentation, for those who missed it in its limited theatrical run, The Assassin can not be rented or purchased through iTunes and other VOD platforms.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
Burnt (John Wells, 2015)
Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015)
Truth (James Vanderbilt, 2015)

If there’s one thing in common between Best Foreign Film and Best Documentary, it’s that no matter what you’re gonna piss somebody off. That’s what happened this year when two popular documentaries didn’t get past the shortlist: Stories We Tell and Blackfish. 2013 was actually a terrific year for documentaries, but the best of the best is still underrepresented in this list of five.

Starting with the most insignificant of the five, Cutie and the Boxer follows Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, an elderly couple trying to live off of their art careers. Ushio is famous for his avant-garde pieces, while Noriko has sacrificed her own artistic ambitions to play the role of assistant to her husband. At a scant 81 minutes there isn’t much nuance to speak of, and a lot of interesting details are glossed over (Ushio’s troubles with alcohol in the past are briefly touched on, and the strained relationship with their son only gets several minutes of screentime). By the end it feels like a very slight film, and its subject matter won’t stand up against the competition.

20 Feet From Stardom, on the other hand, is the kind of fluffy doc that Academy voters adore. Director Morgan Neville puts the focus on backup singers, finding out who was singing behind classics (a highlight of the film gives the backstory on Merry Clayton’s vocals in “Gimme Shelter”) and wondering why such talented people could never break out on their own. Neville has picked a terrific topic for his documentary, and he’s lucky enough to have such charismatic personalities carry along his film while he flails from topic to topic. If Neville was able to find something to anchor his film, 20 Feet could have been much better. But it’s doesn’t matter anyways, audiences love the film, and Harvey Weinstein is putting all he can into ensuring it walks away with a trophy on Oscar night. While 20 Feet From Stardom is far from the best film in this category, its crowd-pleasing nature and heavy campaigning will probably make it win. I’m sincerely hoping that this won’t be a repeat of last year’s Searching for Sugar Man win, but the cynic in me says otherwise.

Unsurprisingly politics dominated the category this year. Rick Rowley’s Dirty Wars is the most overtly political film of the bunch, focusing on reporter Jeremy Scahill’s investigation into the US’s new methods of fighting wars. The truth is, of course, horrifying. Drone strikes and seemingly unlimited access to anywhere in the world (along with many, many other depressing revelations) show a level of unchecked power that would give anyone pause. Oddly enough, Dirty Wars is similar to 20 Feet From Stardom in that its subject matter does most of the heavy lifting. The doc’s attempt to play out like a conspiracy thriller falls flat; Scahill’s overly serious narration combined with Rowley’s attempt to make him look like a martyr don’t work well when seeing innocent people get slaughtered. Nonetheless, Scahill and Rowley are covering material that absolutely needs to be exposed to the public more. It’s a pleasant surprise that Dirty Wars was nominated at all, and even though it won’t win it should hopefully get more people watching the film.

When it comes to the battle for the overall best documentary in the group, it boils down to two films: The Act of Killing and The Square. The Square could provide a pleasant upset on March 2nd, as its immediacy and relevance may appeal to voters. The Act of Killing has been a critical darling ever since it premiered on the festival circuit in 2012, with its mortifying look at a country proud of the genocide it committed decades ago. Personally speaking, it’s no contest. As terrific as The Square is at showing the highs and lows of Egypt’s revolution in real-time, it’s still a film in progress (it was re-edited between its Sundance premiere and official release to include more recent developments). The Act of Killing is a documentary that will be referred to years from now as one of the major films in the format. Whether or not director Joshua Oppenheimer deserves mention alongside names like the Maysles, Wiseman, Herzog or Morris (the latter two love the film, and put their names on it as executive producers) remains to be seen, but he’s made a film that can easily be put next to those directors’ strongest works.

Like I said at the beginning, 2013 has been a terrific year for docs, so choosing only one that should have been nominated is quite tough. While I disagree with the consensus on Blackfish, I enjoyed Stories We Tell. My personal pick for best documentary last year would be Leviathan, but I’m not thick enough to expect AMPAS to ever nominate something that borders on avant-garde so much. My pick for what should have been nominated goes to Let The Fire Burn, Jason Osder’s terrific film about the tragic battle between a group of radicals and a city government at its wits end. It’s a balanced look at a messy situation, showing how failure from both sides led to devastation. The fact that Osder effortlessly shows all sides of the story through nothing but archival footage makes his film all the more impressive.

Category Predictions

Best Documentary Nominees

The Act of Killing (review)

Cutie and the Boxer (review)

Dirty Wars

The Square (review)

20 Feet from Stardom (review)

Previous Category Analysis

Best Shorts
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Foreign Film

For this week’s batch of Weekend Streaming Recommendations, I’ve chosen to pick a quartet of excellent documentaries, but with an added bonus: To enhance your viewing pleasure, I’ve included interviews I conducted with the films’ directors and subjects! It’s like special features for streaming movies!…well, kinda. There have been a truckload of great, great documentaries coming out over the past year or so, and these four are some of my favorites.

The Square

Recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary, Jehane Noujaim’s The Square is about the Egyptian mass protests staged in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that have rattled the country over the past few years, and it’s also one of the most thrilling, culturally significant, awe-inspiring films in recent memory. Streaming exclusively on Netflix, the film follows a handful of revolutionaries, all from different walks of life, as they devote their lives to wresting the power away from oppressive dictators Hosni Mubarak and his over-powered successor, Mohammad Morsi. You couldn’t ask for a more inspirational, captivating on-screen personality than the film’s primary subject, a young, brash, loudmouth revolutionary by the name of Ahmed Hassan who you’ll never forget. – Watch the trailer

Interview with director Jehane Noujaim and producer Karim Amer

Tall as the Baobab Tree

One of the best documentaries I saw at last year’s San Francisco International Film Festival, Tall as the Baobab Tree follows a family in a small Senegalese village that struggles to transition into a new age of modernity that threatens to disrupt their established, traditional roots. When a freak accident puts a young girl named Coumba’s family in a desperate financial situation, her father chooses to sell her younger sister Debo into an arranged marriage. With Coumba being the first in the family to attend school, she’s able to dream of a bigger, better future for herself, and she wants to rescue her sister from the forced fate imposed upon her by their father. Though the script is fictional, the story speaks to the real-life status of a part of the world teetering on the precipice of modernity. It’s a beautiful, important film, and a story more people should be familiar with. It isn’t streaming for free at the moment, but it’s a special film that’s worth shelling out a few bucks. – Watch the trailer

Interview with director Jeremy Teicher

Blackfish

I’m never, ever going to Sea World again, thanks to Blackfish, a bracing, revealing documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The film examines the fatal consequences of marine parks keeping animals like killer whales in captivity through the story of one whale in particular, named Tilikum, who’s taken the lives of three trainers since his capture. Cowperthwaite interviews current and previous employees of these parks, and their accounts of the tragedies surrounding Tilikum and whales like him are shocking. With so many people having misconceptions about how these sea parks operate (me included), Blackfish is a must watch, and will hopefully help to bring about change in the way we treat animals in captivity. – Watch the trailer

Interview with director Gabriela Cowperthwaite

A Band Called Death

“Before there was punk, there was a band called Death”, reads the poster for the rock-doc A Band Called Death, directed by Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett. The tagline speaks the truth: Before the Ramones or The Clash rose to prominence, three brothers from Detroit started a band in their parents’ house and eventually recorded the world’s first pure punk record. The band was forgotten and never received credit for pioneering a genre of music, but in 2008, their music resurfaced and word about the lost “forefathers of punk” began to spread like wildfire. Dannis and Bobby Hackney, two thirds of the band, recount the troubled history of their musical journey, including the demise of their self-destructive, spiritually inspired late brother, David. – Watch the trailer

Interview with subjects Dannis and Bobby Hackney

The Square captures the chaotic energy of the Egyptian mass protests of 2011 and 2013, a rush of sights and sounds shot at street level that blitzes the senses as it quickens the heart. It’s not as informative a documentary as some may expect, but it wasn’t designed that way; director Jehane Noujaim is more interested in the swelling spirit of the Egyptian people–a handful of charismatic revolutionaries in particular–than the political machinations that incited them.

Egypt has been in a state of imbalance since January 2011, when thousands gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to stage a weeks-long mass protest against dictator Hosni Mubarak. Their devotion to change paid off as Mumbarak stepped down, but their celebration was premature, as the military regime left in the dictator’s wake became violently oppressive, abusing and firing live rounds on demonstrators, killing many. High-ranking military officers (some of which Noujaim interviews in the film) smugly denied the involvement of soldiers in the killings, despite overwhelming video evidence to the contrary. Then came the election of Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi, who turned out to be even more manipulative than his predecessor, granting himself more power than most Egyptians felt comfortable with. The revolutionaries ousted him, too, and (regrettably) violently reprimanded his followers in the Brotherhood. Such a sustained demonstration of defiance had never been seen before, and though the country remains splintered, the protests indicated an impending shift in Egyptian consciousness.

Noujaim (who grew up just blocks away from Tahrir Square) and her film crew (all of whom she met in the square during the initial protest) were running in the streets with cameras for two, following the film’s characters through all of the elections, military killings, heated debates, rousing victories, and bitter defeats. It’s amazing how ubiquitous the crew’s cameras are, filming the events in the middle of the square, up on overlooking rooftops, in tight alleys, and right on the front lines of military/protester standoffs. Some shots–like footage of innocent people getting run over by a tank–are so gruesome and overwhelming you’ll quiver. Others are gorgeous and moving, like aerial shots of the Cairo streets impossibly flooded by millions of demonstrators. Every moment feels vital. The Arab Spring will be written about and discussed for decades to come, but nothing will ever convey how the revolution felt better than The Square does.

Noujaim’s depiction of the revolution is as intimate as it is spectacular, focusing on viewing the events through the eyes of select individuals, all of whom come from different backgrounds and offer unique perspectives. The Kite Runner actor Khalid Abdalla returned to Cairo from England for the 2011 protests and became an invaluable asset to the movement due to his eloquent way with words and his link to Western media outlets. Magdy Ashour, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, finds himself torn between two factions as he stands with the demonstrators in the square while he’s ridiculed for his Brotherhood affiliation.

The beating heart of the film is Ahmed Hassan, a young, charismatic, cocky loudmouth who epitomizes everything the revolution stands for. He’s constantly engaging in intense public debates with anyone who’ll listen, attracting large crowds with his booming voice and fiery eyes. He’s an incredible talker, and rivals the wonderful Man on Wire‘s Philippe Petit in his magnetism and charm.

Of the many conversations and debates seen throughout the film, Ashour’s are the most fascinating, as he’s constantly accosted by friends, family, and strangers alike about his allegiances. His mother disapproves of his participation in the revolution, saying that her son is out on the streets, “playing revolutionary”, while the Brotherhood (who have supported him financially for years) suffer beatings at the hands of the same demonstrators he stands with in the square.

Late in the film, Hassan says that he believes the greatest victory of the revolution is that children have now taken to playing a game where they pretend to be revolutionaries, acting out faux demonstrations where they demand more ice cream, for example. Hassan’s sentiment is an interesting juxtaposition to Ashour’s mother’s “playing revolutionary” slight, serving as an illustration of where the Egyptian consciousness used to be, and where it’s headed.

Noujaim is clearly on the side of the secularists, capturing little to nothing of the Muslim Brotherhood perspective, the same people who are dying in the streets for their beliefs. She very much portrays government officials, the military, and the Brotherhood as “others”, making the film a clouded and partial historical document at best. But this hardly matters; the film doesn’t operate as an educational guide to the revolution, existing more as a snapshot of the emergence of a new Egyptian identity.

The Square is an engrossing, transportive experience, but more importantly, it’s a galvanizing one. The film’s greatest victory isn’t simply that it makes you feel like you’re in Tahrir Square; it’s that it makes you want to be there.

Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim’s rousing documentary The Square was born of a revolution.

In January 2011, Noujaim traveled to Cairo when she heard rumblings of an uprising forming at Tahrir Square in opposition of longtime President Hosni Mubarak and his military’s abusive oppression. She arrived at the titular square engulfed by an endless sea of protesters and, with no previous plans to make a film, broke out her camera and started shooting.

There, in the square, she met Karim Amer (who would become her producer), the rest of her crew, and three men who would become her cast of characters; Ahmed Hassan, an limitlessly spirited and vocal revolutionary; Magdy Ashour, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood; and British-Egyptian actor/activist Khalid Abdalla, who had also flown to Cairo when he heard the news.

As the revolutionaries stood their ground for days on end, unwilling to relinquish the small piece of the city they had reclaimed from the political leaders they resented, tensions between them and the military personnel grew increasingly combustable, the stakes began to rise to dangerous levels, and Jehane began to find her story. It’s a story of a new Egypt, written by young people starving for change.

The Square follows the lives of these revolutionaries as they fight to oust Mubarak and his regime, and fight even harder against his replacement, Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammad Morsi, who turned out to be just as corrupt as his predecessor. With jaw-dropping street-level footage, Noujaim captures the energy of the young people driving one of the most significant revolutions in human history.

Noujaim and Amer sat with us in San Francisco to talk about what led to the revolution, the importance of art in this new movement, Egypt’s generational gap, their inspirational cast of characters, and more.

On Friday, January 17th, The Square will be available on Netflix as well as screen in select cities. For more info, visit www.thesquarefilm.com.

A woman in the film says something to the effect of, “Egyptians don’t protest easily.” How extreme was the political and social unrest for Egyptians to flock to the square in such numbers?
Jehane: That was Bosayna Kamel. I made a film about her in 2007. She was a newscaster and she quit, because she said she was no longer going to tell lies. She started an organization called “Egypt We’re Watching You” with two other women. She was the first person I called when I heard rumblings going on. It’s funny you pick her, because she ended up running for president throughout this whole process.

Karim: The first woman to run for president.

Wow. You didn’t feel the need to explore her story more?
Jehane: We decided that she was her own story and didn’t want to go into it in the film. We wanted to keep the film about the square.

Karim: To your question, I think the country had reached a breaking point in terms of piled up frustration and oppression. I think that what sparks these incredible movements that are leaderless is a kind of social phenomena. I don’t think it’s one particular incident that sparked the whole thing. There was a series of police brutality that happened, and one particular case was Kahled Saeed.

Jehane: He was arrested, tortured, and killed. Brutally, brutally tortured.

Karim: The initial protest on January 25th was just a protest against police day. Nobody anticipated that it would be that substantial. The biggest impact wasn’t that people came down on January 25th; people had done that before, many times. Why this situation was different is because people came back the next day. And the next day. And the next day. That’s what made this different than other protests in the past. People were determined to continue, and when they did, the impossible happened. The barrier of fear that people had been living in for years crumbled. It was really magical.

Here’s a people who had lived in a country where no political discourse was happening, where you’re scared you might disappear or get arrested. People from all walks of life came down in the millions, and it was a real paradigm shift for people power and world history.

What Bosayna says in the film is that, yeah, it takes a lot. The cost has been high, but people aren’t going to give up.

Jehane: She also has the right to say that, because she’s been fighting in the streets for so long, trying to get people to understand what their rights are. She’s experienced that people have put up with so much for such a long time. Their rights have been trampled on. Egyptians have managed to live through these difficult periods with a sense of humor that is often difficult to understand, given the dire circumstances.

Karim, is it correct that you met Jehane in the square while you were setting up a stage for people to read poetry?
Karim: Yeah. There was a brotherhood stage and a left wing stage. My cousin and I had set up a stage that was an open mic for people to say whatever they wanted. The only people speaking on the other two stages were leaders, known people. The fact that people could say whatever they wanted–people had never seen that before. It was exhilarating.

So, you have this stage for people to read poetry and speak freely, and now you have this wonderful film that is going to influence a lot of people. Talk about the importance of creative work in this movement, how it can uplift, encourage, and educate people.
Jehane: It’s incredibly important. If you looked around at the people who really stuck it out at the square, a large number of people from the creative industry were there. There were times when things emptied out, and it was always the creatives that were leading change. You could see this demand for change, for people to pay attention and not turn a blind eye anymore, through the uploading of videos, through paintings on the wall, through stencils of the people who were killed spray painted on the walls of downtown Cairo so that the army couldn’t forget what they had done. Graffiti exploded. The only serious political conversation that’s been able to exist has been through cartoons and satire. It’s the cartoonists and satirists that have been able to get away with pushing the boundaries.

Karim: At the heart of this movement is culture and freedom of expression. What’s galvanizing Egyptians are young people who choose to break the narrative and write a new one. That’s part of a global paradigm shift. There are a lot of young people around the world who are now starting to say, “We deserve better.” The successes and failures of these movements around the world are all connected in determining whether we get to that better space that we all know is possible. That’s what we end the film on, this idea of a global conscience, which is what we’re really fighting for in Egypt and what people have been fighting for with all of these social movements around the world. The fight against apartheid, the fight for civil rights in this movement, Irish independence, the occupy movement; all of these movements are interconnected. The best part about releasing the film here and in other places is seeing how people relate to the film who have nothing to do with Egypt.

Has the film screened in Egypt?
Jehane: We haven’t been able to show the film there yet. I had a conversation with Ahmed and Magdy the other day, and I felt so bad because they’re not able to experience the incredible reactions from people. Although, they were incredibly motivated and touched by the audience awards at Sundance and TIFF, which are the only awards that mean anything. (laughs)

One of the many themes in the film is the generational dynamic in Egypt. There’s a big gap there. In one scene, Magdy’s mother is upset with him, saying that he’s running around and “playing” revolutionary. Not much later in the film, Ahmed says that the greatest victory of the revolution is that children have begun playing a game where they “play” revolutionary.
Jehane: What Magdy’s mother said was very much a comment on what the Brotherhood is doing for a lot of these people who are unable to support their families. Magdy has been supported by the Brotherhood for 25 years. It’s interesting that you saw that. For many of the people who fought in the revolution, one of the big victories for people who fought in this revolution is that there’s been a cultural change, a change in consciousness similar to what happened here in the civil rights movement. There may not be all the tangible results that we demanded taking place, and we’re still fighting for some of the demands of the civil rights movement to be turned into laws, but there’s a kind of consciousness that’s changed where we’ll never accept some of the things that we accepted before people stood up and said no more. That’s what’s beginning to happen in Egypt, and it’s crucially important.

You can’t really ask for a better film subject than Ahmed. What’s amazing to me is that you found him and the rest of the crew in the square, all at once. How did that all come together?
Jehane: We all met because we were sleeping near each other in tents. The revolution was very much about using whatever skill you had to help move it forward. So, if you were an electrician, you’re figuring out how to hook up the street lamps so people can charge their cell phones in the square. If you had access to a restaurant, you were bringing food to the square. It was incredible. As a filmmaker, I could film, I could tell stories through images, and I could be a witness. It became a movie later.

I met Karim, who was in the process of redoing the largest hospital in Egypt. If you can redesign a hospital, you can figure out how to produce a film. I met [Muhammad] Hamdy, who is a very talented director of photography, and he helped us figure out the cameras. It was the first time I’d ever used a 5D. Cressida [Trew] came on as one of the filmmakers and decided she was going to film Khaled and some other people. I don’t know whether Khaled knew at the time that that would mean he would be waking up to a camera every day (laughs), but we got very intimate moments with him because of that.

All of the characters we met in the first 18 days. You choose characters by [asking yourself], “Is this somebody that I want to spend the next couple years following?” You have to feel quite passionate about the people that you’re following and that they have important voices to be shared with the world. I felt that about each one. Khaled is incredibly articulate during very confusing times. Magdy is one of the most open-minded people I’ve ever met. Having been raised and deeply committed to the Brotherhood, he was incredibly open to other people’s points of view.

I fell in love with Ahmed when I met him, and everybody does. His joy just emanates from him. His passion, his belief, his principles. That’s something all of the characters share; a steadfast dedication to their principals, no matter what. Ahmed was inspiring. He was somebody who would literally start a discussion in the square and in five minutes be surrounded by 50 people. By following him, I knew that I was always going to be at the center of the action.

There’s a breathtaking shot where the person holding the camera runs after Ahmed as he charges to the front line of a barricade.
Karim: That was the DP, Hamdy. He’s an incredible cinematographer. When you witness the electricity of people claiming their rights and coming together, it just changes you fundamentally. When you witness people being attacked and the state being abusive, it rallies a nerve in you, and you feel like this story needs to be told. Our team that came together all felt that way, that the narrative we started writing as young Egyptians needed to stay in our control. We couldn’t allow state or international media to rewrite the narrative or end it where they wanted. That’s what drove people to put their lives at stake. What you’re capturing is history. What you’re capturing is evidence. What you’re capturing is a society’s unraveling and the founding of a new nation. You don’t care about your life when you’re in that position. You’re witnessing such acts of bravery that you think, “If they’re doing it, what am I doing?”

That’s what’s been great about the film. We show the film to a lot of high school students, and one girl said, “I don’t feel comfortable calling myself an environmentalist anymore, because what am I actually doing for the environment besides posting things on facebook? Am I really willing to take a stand?” That’s been important in the release of this film, to show the importance of the street, how hard it is to affect change, and yet how we all have a stake in world change.

Is it gratifying to be able to show the film to people across the world and see them relate to what’s going on in Egypt?
Jehane: It is. It’s been incredible showing it to high schools and colleges. The youth of this country really get it at a core level. They’ve come up to us and said, “These people feel so alive. I want to feel alive like that.” The film is about fighting for change. It’s a process, and it takes commitment. I’ll never forget when the military put out a law that said protests were banned, and Ragia (a character in the film) was being interviewed by CNN. She said, “We have to protest against this law.” The reporter was like, “But…protests are banned…” and she said, “Yes. We have to protest it.”